Summary:
We already know that prejudice and discrimination can destroy the lives of others; people across the world need to learn how to feel sympathy and compassion for the people who have been wronged and apologies for their action. All people are created equal, no matter the difference in race, skin colour, language or health. This is illustrated in three different novels.
English Synthesis Task:
Prejudice is any preconceived feeling or opinion favourable or unfavourable towards a certain group of people. The discrimination caused by prejudice results in this certain group being attacked verbally or physically. In the novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird', Harper Lee uses different writing styles and techniques to show the reader how unfairly blacks were treated. Other sources like the movie 'Philadelphia' directed by Jonathon Demme and 'Blood Out of a Stone', a cartoon strip by Leunig, helped me understand prejudice and discrimination better by visualising situations where prejudice and discrimination are, and focusing on the issue in a dramatic way.
Harper Lee's book "To Kill a Mockingbird" was published in 1960. She was writing at significant time during a period of racial change and relations. Just after the Second World War, movements for equality and freedom gained enough strength and momentum to make Negros stand up for themselves. Soon after, legends like Martin Luther King began to arise and managed stir the blacks into defending their rights as human beings and citizens of the USA. 'To Kill a Mockingbird' was published after these events of racial prejudice and discrimination.
Harper Lee uses a variety of writing styles to get this type of racial prejudice and discrimination across to the reader; in this case she makes the use of colloquial language. "I seen that black nigger yonder ruttin - on my Mayella" (Bob Ewell p.90), this sort of writing style used by Lee portrays Tom Robinson as inferior to the rest of society. Using words like: 'that black nigger' makes the reader picture Tom as an object, not human or some sort of monster that needs to be controlled. The use of similes and metaphors in the novel captures the attention and imagination of the reader. "Again I thought her voice was strange: She (Calpurnia) was talking like the rest of them" (Scout p.131), in this statement Harper Lee is trying to reveal to the reader how people can so easily stereotype people into a specific group, just like Scout has done here. Using words like 'them' shows and makes the reader think of blacks belonging to a specific group, a group that is not normal to the average person. With all the different writing styles and techniques used by Harper Lee, the novel 'To Kill a Mockingbird' has helped me understand that prejudice and discrimination can be prevented and stopped. People need to stop believing and start ignoring the racial prejudice formed in the minds of certain individuals.
In the movie 'Philadelphia' produced by Jonathon Demme in 1994, similar situation to the novel written by Harper Lee seemed to appear. The movie was released more than a decade after the AIDS virus was identified. The deadly disease had already stretched from Francisco to Kampala. Rock Hudson, Arthur Ashe and Magic Johnson had already contracted the fearful virus. By the time the movie 'Philadelphia' was produced and released, every one was very much aware of AIDS; it was the disease of the century, a fearful killer. 'Philadelphia' is the story of Andrew Beckett, who takes the part of Tom Robinson in the movie; he is a successful attorney in a large law firm. Unknown to his colleagues is the fact that Andrew is an active gay man testing positive for the HIV virus. With this information being withheld, Andrew is assigned to an extremely important case and soon after the appearance of Karposi's sarcoma lesions on his face makes it clear that he has developed AIDS. When crucial documents concerned with the case appear to have been misplaced, Andrew is fired apparently fired for incompetence. Andrew believes differently and decides to take his case to Joe Miller, a homophobic injury lawyer. In a decision that would change his life, Joe decided to set aside his personal feelings and represent Andrew's story. The film becomes a courtroom drama exposing any prejudice and discrimination in the movie.
Andrew Beckett is a true mockingbird, he is unjustly dismissed from his job when he is discovered to be gay man carrying the deadly virus known as AIDS. Jonathan Demme portrays the theme of prejudice and discrimination from which Andrew is suffering; by using all sorts of cinematic techniques, film structure, angles, close ups and long shots of certain characters. Charles Wheeler and his associates represent greed and the evil desires of a selfish businessman. Joe Miller and Andrew reveal something to the extreme opposite; they represent all the black, gay and disease-ridden people suffering from prejudice and discrimination across not only America, but the rest of the world as well. Demme makes the use of a lot of close ups in the courtroom scenes, each with its own meaning and purpose. Extreme close up shots of Charles shows the viewer exactly what he really is a cruel man. Close up camera shots of Andrew shows the pain and suffering he is experiencing. An excellent example of prejudice shown in the movie would be the scene of Andrew researching AIDS cases in the library. As soon as the people around Andrew become aware of his disease, they began to exchange looks of disgust and misbelief with each other. The movie 'Philadelphia' portrays the same message of prejudice and discrimination as the text 'To Kill a Mockingbird', both show the life of a man being destroyed by what people believe or think they are. The movie helped me understand that prejudice and discrimination can unfairly destroy the lives of innocent people and we all need therefore to stick together and make an effort to prevent scenarios like this one from really happening.
The cartoon strip 'Blood out of a Stone' by Leunig, is a great visual conversation between two very distinct groups of people. The small inferior character represent the Aborigines, who are asking the government to apologise for what the government's forefathers did with the stolen generation. John Howard, who represents a character superior to that of the Aborigines, doesn't want to say sorry or apologise for a something that he did not do. Leuning criticizes the smugness and arrogance of the majority of white Australians who refuse to acknowledge the poor treatment and discrimination inflicted upon the aboriginal people since European settlement. The cartoon highlights the lack of compassion, understanding and insensitivity of the majority of Australians towards the pain caused to Aborigines. This cartoon is aimed at those who agree that the prime minister does not need to say sorry.
This creative cartoon strip by Leunig conveys a similar message to that of 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. Both show how unreasonable the white community becomes when their minds are blocked by being filled with injustice and clouded by the prejudice created in the minds of ignorant people. Leunig portrays this message by allowing the situation to be reversed, so that the Aborigine should be "CONGRATULATING" the white person on doing such a good job of treating Aborigines badly, rather than receiving an apology. By doing this Leunig highlights the arrogance of white Australians and the lack of sympathy shown towards the aboriginal community. The title of this cartoon 'Blood out of a Stone' suggests just how hard it is for Aborigines to receive an apology from the government. The written text in the cartoon is in the form of a conversation between the oppressor (white) and the oppressed (Aboriginal). The use of emotive word such as 'sorrow', 'sad' and 'persecuted' highlights the pain caused to the Aboriginal people and the lack of empathy shown by the majority of whites. With the use of visual techniques, Leunig is able to show the reader how ridiculous the whole situation really is. By drawing the white person sitting back on a chair, arms crossed and at times pointing down on the Aboriginal, it makes him look superior to the Aboriginal who slouched on a log. This drawing makes the reader feel compassion and empathy towards the Aborigine and shows us how unreasonable the white person really is. 'Blood out of a Stone' has helped me look at prejudice and discrimination from a whole new perspective. It makes me feel sympathy and compassion towards people who suffer from this type of ordeal. We should cry out to put a stop to this arrogance and unreasonable behaviour, which is prominent in the white community.
The texts that I have studied this year have helped me understand the issues of prejudice and discrimination more thoroughly. It is clear that we all have to stop believing the racial comments made by other people and start ignoring. We already know that prejudice and discrimination can destroy the lives of others; people across the world need to learn how to feel sympathy and compassion for the people who have been wronged and apologies for their action. All people are created equal, no matter the difference in race, skin colour, language or health.
This is the complete article, containing 1,474 words
(approx. 5 pages at 300 words per page).
